Alnmouth boat-builders mark a double milestone

Janet Hall

It’s all hands on deck in Alnmouth as the village’s second skiff takes shape.

In September, Alnmouth Community Rowing (ACR) embarked on an ambitious project to build a sister boat to its existing St Ayles skiff, Pride of Aln.

The lucky coin goes in the keel.

The build is now at the half-way stage and the club has celebrated two key milestones.

The first was the symbolic inclusion of a lucky coin within the keel of the boat, a newly-minted 10p coin bearing the image of the Angel of the North with the letter A to symbolise the link to Alnmouth.

This tradition is said to date back to Roman times and the coin was there to make sure that, in the event of a tragedy, there was money on board to pay the ferryman over the River Styx.

The second was the boat turnover, so it is now the right way up.

The group was joined by members of the community, friends from other local rowing groups and supporters to mark the milestones.

Anyone interested in seeing the build in progress is welcome to call in at the lifeboat house at Alnmouth.

For details, visit http://alnmouthrowing.orgPride of Aln was launched in 2015. More than 500 people took part in more than 100 launches before the first season ended.

Since then, ACR has attracted more members and widened the number and scope of rowing events available.